Ratchet wrench



R. A. NHLLEN.

RATCHET WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV 10. 1919.

1,422,121. v 1y1L1922;

Mme/1 A T Ft.

-RUDOLPE A. MILLER, OF DETROIT, MICEIGAN.

Application filed November 10, 1919. Serial- No. 336,798.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I. RUDOLPH A. Mum, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Detroit, in the county of \Vayne and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ratchet\Vrenches, of which the following is a speci fication, reference beinghad therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to ratchet wrenches, and the primary object of myinvention is to provide a reversible ratchet wrench that may beadvantageously used for rotating or adjusting nuts or other bodies onwhich an ordinary wrench of the ratchet type could not be convenientlyused. For instance, the ratchet wrench has been especially designed forrotating any nut or body having a. wire, small pipe or other memberconnected there to which would prohibit the placing of the wrench downover the nut. or body, and with this end in view. the wrench has a splitor open outer endwhich will admit a wire, pipe or other small member tothe central portion of the wrench and permit of the wrench being placeddown over a nut or other body to which the wire or pipe is connected.

Another object of my invention is to provide a pawl and ratchet wrenchwherein the arrangement of the pawl is such that its operation may bereversed relative to 'a ratchet nut engaging member which is held sothat it cannot become accidentally displaced.

A further object of this invention is to provide a simple, durable andinexpensive wrench consisting of comparatively few parts that may beeasily and quickly assem-, bled. the wrench being constructed so that itwill withstand rough usage and permit of anut or body being easily andquickly adjusted.

The above and other objects are attained by a mechanical constructionthat will be hereinafter specifically described and then claimed, andreference will now be had to the drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a plan ofthe wrench, partly broken away;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the wrench;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line IIIIII of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the wrench, illustrating an instance ofits use, and

a. slot 8, said head and its opening and slot being in parallelregistration with the head 2 of the handle bar 1, so that the walls ofthe openings 3 and 7 may pivotally support a nut or body engaging collar9 having its inner wall provided with facets 10 so that it may engagethe facets of a nut or other body 11. The periphery of the collar 9 isprovided with a toothed rib 12 which extends between the heads 2 -and 6and said collar and its rib has a slot 13 corresponding in width to theslots 4: and 8, thus providing an entrance opening into the nut engagingcollar 9 from the outer end of the wrench.

Prior to connecting the side plate 5 to the handle bar 1, the nutengaging collar 9 is placed in position, also a transverse partition orguide 14 which is located adjacent the. heads 2 and 6. To retain theside plate 5 in position, said side plate has its inner end bent at anangle, as at 15, and provided with a tongue or rivet 16 which extendsinto the handle bar 1 and is upset or peened, thereby fixing the innerend of the side plate 5 relative to the handle bar 1. The intermediateportion of the side plate 5 is held in spaced relation to the handle bar1 by the transverse partition or guide 14 and this partition is formedwith tongues or rivets 17 extending into openings provided therefor inthe handle bar 1 and the side plate 5, the partition tongues or rivetsbeing upset or peened, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, so that the partition14 will cooperate with the angular end 15. of the side plate 5 inretaining the side plate in spaced relation to the handle bar 1, andthus provide a housing adjacent the heads 2 and 6 of the wrench.

'Slidable in the housing formed by the handle bar land the side plate 5is a longitudinally disposed pawl 18 extending throughopenings 19provided therefor in .the partition 14: and the angular end 15 of theside late 5. The outer end of the awl extends etween the heads 2 and 6 0the wrench and terminates in a beveled tooth 20 constantly in engagementwith the teeth of the toothed rib 12 of the collar 9.

On the pawl 18, between the partition 14 and the angular end 15 of theside plate 5 is an abutment 21 and encircling the pawl 18, between theabutment 21 and the angular end 15 of the side plate 5 is a coiledexpansion spring 22, the expansive force of said spring maintaining thetoothed outer end of the pawl normall in engagement with the ratchetcollar 9. Khe inner end of the pawl 18 terminates in a crank or handle23 and by manually retracting the pawl it may be turned a halfrevolution, thereby reversing the osition of the tooth 20 relative tothe ratcl iet' or nut engaging collar 9. As shown in Fig. 1 the handlebar 1 may be moved in a clockwise direction with the tooth of the pawlreceding over the teeth of the nut engaging collar, but when the handlebar 1 is moved in a counterclockwise direction then One face of the nutengaging collar9 is provided with a lug 24 which is preferably locateddiametrically opposite the slot 13 in said collar and when the lug 24alines with the pawl 18, the operator of the Wrench will know that theslot 13 of the nut engaging collar registers with the slots 4 and 8 inthe heads 2 and 6 respectively of the Wrench.

By reference to Fig. 5. it will be noted that the ratchet wrench can beused similarto a spanner or alligator wrench, that is, it can be placeddown over the nut or body 11 even when other members are attachedthereto, and with the wrench in engagement with such nut or body, it isonly necessary to oscillate the same to rotate the nut or body. With thenut engaging collar 9 loose between the heads 2 and 6 of the wrench thecollar may remain in engagement with the nut or body 11 while the heads2 and 6 are oscillated to permit of the pawl obtaining fresh grips onthe nut engaging collar, and it is in this manner that the split ratchetwrench can be used similar to an ordinary spanner wrench withoutrepositioning such wrench during the rotation of the nut or similarbody.

I attach considerable importance to the simplicity of constructionentering into the wrench, as the handle bar '1 and the side plate 5 maybe cut and stamped from sheet metal and then bent to proper form. Theparts of the wrench can be easily and quickly assembled and the )awl andspring are sufficiently protected within the housing to avoid beinginjured by rough usage.

One embodiment .of my invention has been illustrated, but it is to beunderstood that the structural elements are susceptible to suchvariations and modifications as all within the scope of the appendedclaim.

-' What I claim is c A ratchet wrench comprising a flat bar a slot, aflat plate disposed in parallelism with the outer end of said bar andhaving a head with a slot therein, said plate having its inner end bentand anchored in said bar to form an end wall, a transverse partitionbetween said bar and plate adjacent the heads thereof, tongues on saidpartitions extending into said bar and plate and anchored therein, aratchet nut engaging collar journaled in said bar and plate heads withthe ratchet portion of said collar extending behaving a head at itsouter end provided with tween said heads, said collar having a slotadapted to register with the slots of said bar and plate heads, a pawlslidable and rotatable in said partition and the end wall of said plateand having its outer end normally engaging said ratchet nut engagingcollar, an abutment on said pawl adjacent said partition, a springencircling said pawl between said abutment and the end wall of saidplate and holding said pawl in engagement with said ratchet nut engagingcollar, and a crank on the inner end of said pawl for turning said pawlso that the action thereof relative to ratchet nut engaging collar maybe reversed.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

' RUDOLPH A. MILLEN. 'Witnesses: KARL H. BUTLER,

ANNA M. Done.

